1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cleaning apparatus. More particularly the invention concerns a lint removing device of the character having a plurality of layers of adhesive-coated tape wound upon a cylindrical core. The layers of tape are partially cut along a diagonally extending line so as to form a plurality of sheets or windings which can be sequentially removed as the apparatus is used.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Various types of lint pick-up devices have been suggested in the past. Typically these devices comprise a length of pressure sensitive masking tape wound upon a core which is rotatably carried by a support or handle. Generally, the pressure sensitive masking tape is scored along its center width so as to define a plurality of individual windings which may be sequentially removed from the core after they have become contaminated. Exemplary of such prior art devices are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,325 issued to Dreher and U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,418 issued to Ribound, et al. This latter patent describes a lint pick-up or cleaning roller comprising a support, a cylinder rotatably mounted on the support and a plurality of adhesive-coated sheets spirally wound in layers on the cylinder so that the dge of the sheets are spaced apart.
In using the lint pick-up devices of the prior art, the adhesive material is placed against the article to be cleaned, such as wearing apparel, and is rolled relative to the article so that as the cleaning roller rotates about its longitudinal axis the adhesive layer lightly engages the material to be cleaned. When the outer layer of the adhesive material becomes saturated with lint or other foreign material, lifted from the article the saturated sheet is stripped away from the core exposing a fresh, uncomtaminated layer.
The basic problem inherent in the prior art lint pickup devices known to the present inventor resides the difficulty of stripping away each successive layer of the adhesive material from the core as it becomes contaminated. In the first place, it is usually very difficult visually to locate an edge or corner that can be raised to permit the contaminated winding to be gripped and peeled from the next succeeding winding on the core. Secondly, when a corner or edge is located, it must in some way be raised sufficiently so that it can be gripped with enough force to remove the saturated winding from the core. Because of the fragile nature of the adhesive material, this step of locating and then raising a corner or edge of the winding is often frustrating and time consuming. Frequently even after the corner is raised with a fingernail or sharp object it will tear causing the winding to peel unevenly or not to peel at all.
Several approaches have been suggested in the past to solve these highly annoying problems. For example, in the previously identified Ribound patent, the problem was sought to be solved by leaving a gap between the turn of the spirals of each layer or winding of the material and further by coloring one edge of each layer differently from the remainder thereof. While this construction makes it easier to visually locate the edge of the spiral layer to be removed, it does not effectively solve the problem of raising a corner or edge which can be gripped with sufficient force to peel the contaminated layer from the core.
The present invention is directed specifically to the solution of the problems discussed in the preceding paragraphs. As will be more fully appreciated from the discussion which follows, the present inventor has solved these difficult and annoying problems in a unique way by partially, but not completely, cutting each successive layer or winding of the adhesive tape along a generally diagonally extending line. With this construction, each successive layer of material includes an uncut, circumferentially extending band of material. Accordingly, as each successive winding is stripped from the core, when the uncut band of the winding is reached, the band will tear in a manner to cause a ragged tab of the next adjacent underlying winding to be upraised. In this way, one corner of the winding of adhesive tape will always be positively upraised after the removal of each successive layer of the contaminated tape. It is then a simple matter to locate and lap over a portion of the upraised corner before using the apparatus for the next successive cleaning operation. After the cleaning step, which causes the winding to become contaminated, the folded over corner portion remains easily locatable and easily grasped so as to enable the quick and expeditious removal of the next contaminated layer or winding.
To further facilitate the removal of each successive contaminated winding of the tape, the narrow circumferentially extending uncut band of tape is brightly colored with an ink or similar coloring medium. The ink or other coloring medium accomplishes two beneficial results. First, by selecting an ink of a bright color, such as red, blue or green, the torn, up-lifted tab on each successive winding or layer is easily visible. Second, the ink functions to cover or mask the adhesive facing on the tape uncut band of tape enabling it to be readily separable from the next adjacent layer of the uncut band. This masking of the adhesive material on the uncut band facilitates the upraising of the tab on the next succeeding winding as the band is torn during the stripping away of the contaminated layer from the core.